Flight Lieutenant Gray was planning a mass break-out from Shamshuipo and had been much involved in smuggling secret messages and medicines. He was the first officer to be arrested and so bore the brunt of the torture inflicted by the Japanese. “In spite of this, and the fact that he was suffering from illness during the five months of his imprisonment, he steadfastly refused to implicate anyone,” reads his citation.
Newnham, Gray and Ford had all been condemned to death on 1st December 1943. Throughout the proceedings, Ford continued to accept full responsibility for everything. They lay for 18 days with no hope of reprieve and the certain knowledge that they would not get even one adequate meal before their deaths; but they never lost their courage.
When the three officers were removed from their cells, neither Newnham nor Gray could walk unaided. Ford half carried them to the waiting truck. “As the junior of the three, he took up his position on the left. The Japanese officer in charge, recognising his gallantry, insisted upon Ford standing on the right,” concludes the history of the Royal Scots.5 Their cold, calculating courage, steadfast behaviour and conduct were beyond all praise.
In October 1946 King George VI approved a fifth posthumous George Cross. The recipient was John A Fraser MC and bar. When questioned by the Japanese about the wireless news received by Stanley Internment Camp he replied, boldly and clearly, his voice ringing resonantly throughout the courtroom, that he alone was responsible and that he had the right to act as he thought fit in the best interests of the British interned in Stanley. His citation which appeared in the London Gazette on 25 October 1946 read as follows: “John Alexander Fraser was interned by the Japanese in the Civilian Internment Camp at Stanley. Fully aware of the risks that he ran he engaged continuously in most dangerous activities. He organised escape plans and a clandestine wireless service and succeeded not only in obtaining news from outside but also in getting important information out of the camp. Subjected by the Japanese to prolonged and most severe torture he steadfastly refused to give any information, and was finally executed. His fortitude was such that it was commented upon by the prison guards, and was a very real source of inspiration to others. His magnificent conduct undoubtedly saved the lives of those others whom the Japanese sought to implicate.”
Newnham, Ford, Ansari, Fraser and Gray are all buried close together in the peaceful, beautiful cemetery at Stanley. Royal British Pilgrimages to Hong Kong invariably say prayers among their graves.
The words on the British memorial in Burma to those who lost their lives in the Far East come to mind: “When you go home, tell them of us and say ‘for your tomorrow, we gave our today’.”
Thousands had fought and died in Hong Kong to restore freedom to mankind. Their name liveth for evermore. Remember them with pride.
Notes
1. The figures are taken from Appendix B to The London Gazette, dated 27.1.48.
2. Shoji’s statement to Capt. E C Watson in November 1946 (NDHQ).
3. Churchill, W S, The Grand Alliance, London: Cassell & Co, 1950, p. 634.
4. Kirby, W S, The War Against Japan, Vol. I, London: HM Stationery Office, 1957, p. 150.
5. Paterson, R H, Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard, The Royal Scots History Committee, vol. 2, 2000, p. 132.
Bibliography
The detailed source notes at the end of each chapter name the publishers of the books quoted from most frequently and give additional details on other sources.
Adams, G P Destination Japan, 1980
Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord, War Diaries, 2001
Alden, D Charles R Boxer, 2001
Allister, W When Life and Death Held Hands, 1989
Barrett D F S.S. Lisbon Maru, 2004
Bennett, D 18 Days, 1976
Best, B (ed.) Secret Letters from the Railway, 2004
Bosanquet, D Escape Through China, 1982
Bowie, D C Captive Surgeon in Hong Kong, 1975
Brown, W Hong Kong Aftermath, 1943
Bush, Lewis The Road to Inamura, 1961
Cambon, K Guest of Hirohito, 1990
Carew, T The Fall of Hong Kong, 1960
Churchill, W S The Second World War Vols. I to III, 1948-1950
Crew, F A E The Army Medical Services, Vol. 2 Hong Kong, 1957
Dew, G Prisoner of the Japs, 1943
Douglas, W A B & Greenhous, B Out of the Shadows, 1977
Duff, L P Report on the Canadian Expeditionary Force to the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, 1942
Elphick, P Far Eastern File: The Intelligence War in the Far East, 1999
Endecott, G B Hong Kong Eclipse. 1978
Field, E Twilight in Hong Kong, 1960
Ford, J A The Brave White Flag. 1961
Garneau, G S Royal Rifles of Canada, 1971
Ghosh, K K The Indian National Army, 1969
Goodwin, R B Hong Kong Escape, 1953
Goodwin, R B Passport to Eternity, 1956
Greenhous, B ‘C’ Force to Hong Kong: A Canadian Catastrophe 1941-1945, 1997
Guest, P E Escape from the Bloodied Sun, 1956
Hahn, E China to Me, 1943
Hamilton, G C The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, 1966
Harrop, P The Hong Kong Incident, 1945
Hewitt, A Bridge With Three Men, 1986
Hewit, A Corridors of Time. 1993
Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps Record of the actions of the HKVDC in the battle for Hong Kong, 1953
James, D H The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire. 1951
Kawai, T The God of Japanese Expansion, 1938
Kemp, P K The History of the Middlesex Regiment
Keung, K T & Wordie, J Ruins of War, 1996
Kirby, W S Singapore the Chain of Disaster, 1971
Kirby, W S The War Against Japan Vol. I, 1958
Lindsay, O J M At the Going Down of the Sun, 1981
Lindsay, O J M The Lasting Honour, 1978
Luff, J The Hidden Years, 1967
Manchester, W American Caesar, 1978
Marsman, J H I Escaped from Hong Kong, 1942
Ministry of Defence (Navy) War with Japan, 1995
Montefiore, S Sebag The Court of the Red Tsar
Morris, A E J John R Harris Architects, 1984
Muir, A The First of Foot, 1961
Paterson, R H Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard, 2001
Penny, A G Royal Rifles of Canada, 1962
Prasad, B Official History of the Indian Armed Forces in World War II, 1960
Priestwood, G Through Japanese Barbed Wire, 1943
Proulx, B A Underground from Hong Kong. 1943
Ride, E BAAG, 1981
Rollo, D The Guns and Gunners of Hong Kong, 1991
Russell of Liverpool, Lord, Knights of Bushido, 1958
Ryan, T F Jesuits under Fire, 1951
Selwyn Clarke, Sir S Footprints. 1975
Shennan, M Out in the Midday Sun, 2004
Snow, P The Fall of Hong Kong, 2003
Stacey, C P Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War Vol. I, Six Years of War, 1957
Starling, P H Army Medical Services in Hong Kong, 1994
Thorne, C Allies of a Kind, 1978
Vincent, C No Reason Why, 1981
Wiseman, E P Hong Kong, 2001
Wright, R J I Was a Hell Camp Prisoner, 1963
Young, A N China and the Helping Hand 1937-1945, 1963
* * * * *
The poem at the beginning of Part 3 is from The Memory of the Dead by John Kells Ingram (from page 277 of An Eton Poetry Book published by Macmillan, 1938
Despatches
1 Despatch by Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, Commander-in-Chief in the Far East, on Operations in the Far East from 17 Oct. 1940-27 Dec. 1941. (Published in the supplement to the London Gazette, 20 Jan. 1948.)
2 Despatch by Major General C M Maltby, GOC British Troops in China, on Operations in Hong Kong from 8 to 25 Dec. 1941. (Published in the supplement to the London Gazette, 27 Jan. 1948.)
War Diaries
<
br /> 1st HK Regiment Hong Kong Singapore Royal Artillery (HKSRA) Chief Signal Officer, China Command (1941) compiled by Lt Col. M E F Truscott.
East Infantry Brigade in the Defence and Fall of Hong Kong (133 pages). Compiled in Argyle Street POW Camp between 1 June 1942 and 15 Aug. 1942 taking account of war diaries of 1 HK Regt HKSRA East Group RA; B and D Coys 1 Mx; 5/7 Rajput; No. 1, 2 Coys HKVDC. The other war diaries had probably been destroyed or not written.
Mainland Infantry Brigade and Attached Troops (90 pages). Compiled as above.
Preliminary Summary compiled in 1942, based on Fortress HQ messages to and from Brigade HQs and units.
Reports and Notes (in author’s possession)
1945 Report on Indian POWs HKSRA (29 pages) unsigned
Australian War Crimes Commission Questionnaires compiled by some POWs
Building Reconstruction. Appointed by C.-in-C. HK 1946.
Christmas Day 1941 at Stanley by J A Lomax
Conditions in Hong Kong of POWs by Lt Col. R J E Cadogan-Rawlinson
Far Eastern POW Bulletin August 1945
Hong Kong 1941 by Rex Young
Hong Kong 1941–1945 by Mrs G Man
My Time as a POW by the Bishop of Mashonoland
Officers’ POW Camp Argyle Street by Captain G V Bird RE
Original Notes (184 pages) largely concerning debriefing RN and RNVR in POW camps. Compiled 1942–1945
POWs: New Zealand in the Second World War by W W Mason
Recollections by C B J Stewart
Record of Service by Surgeon Lieutenant C A Jackson
Reminiscences by H F Linge
Report on Fraternisation with Japanese by M C Tugby
Reports of General MacArthur in Japan Vol. I Supplement
Selected Articles
Adams, I Macleans, Jul. 1968
Bowie, D C ‘Captive Surgeon in Hong Kong’, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Mar. 1977, Vol. 15
Burd, F ‘Canloan’, The Guards Magazine, 1996
Canadian Veterans News Magazine, Spring 1977
Crawford, J N The Canadian Medical Association, 1947
Crawford, J N Manitoba Medical Review, Feb. 1946
Dobbs, K Star Weekly, Aug. 1965
Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps – various articles
Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Oct. 1973, Vol. I
Morrison, W K ‘Malaria in Hong Kong’, Journal Royal Army Medical Corps, Vol. 114, No. 4, 1968
Muir, A The Scotsman, 14 Nov. 1960
Penfold, R J L ‘The Defence of Hong Kong’, The Gunner, Dec. 1946
Penny, A G A Short History of the Royal Rifles of Canada
Pinkerton, D The Thistle, Oct. 1946, Jan. 1947
Stacey, C P ‘The Defence of Hong Kong’, Canadian Army Journal, Dec. 1950
Diaries
Author
Location
Anslow, B C (née Redwood)
Imperial War Museum
Fenn, C H
author’s possession
Joyce, D
Imperial War Museum
Lawson, J K
Wolsey Barracks, London, Ontario
Levett, E
Royal and Gurkha Signals Squadron
McEwan, M C
author’s possession
Newnham, L A
Imperial War Museum
Newton, L
Imperial War Museum
Otway, C E
author’s possession
Redwood, M
Imperial War Museum
Skelton, S
National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa
Strachan, T
author’s possession
Templer, C R
author’s possession
Files
1. The principal documents at the National Archives, Ruskin Row, Kew are:
Admiralty (ADM)
199 series
Colonial Office (CO)
129,519,980 series
Foreign Office (FO)
916 series
War Office (WO)
203,208,3260 series
2. Numerous relevant files are in National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa. Some are also in Hong Kong, Washington and Tokyo.
Websites
1. National Archives, Kew (formerly Public Record Office)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk (Telephone 020 8392 5202)
2. Imperial War Museum
www.iwm.org.uk (Telephone 020 16 5320)
3. National Army Museum, Chelsea
www.national-army-museum.ac.uk (Telephone 020 7881 2455)
The Confusion of Events
Colonel C P Stacey, Canada’s most distinguished military historian, stated in his memoirs that Hong Kong gave him “the most difficult problem I had ever encountered.” One of his military researchers wrote “From whatever sources they come, reports all emphasise the confusion of events.” Battles throughout the Second World War, and in Hong Kong in particular in 1941, often descend into “Chaotic affairs… ” As Brereton Greenhous puts it “Throughout these various historical minefields, the hopeful chronicler can only step with caution.” In short, the most thoroughly researched accounts often contradict each other despite authors’ best efforts. Almost 65 years later, precisely what happened in some events in Hong Kong may never be established or agreed upon.
1. The Officers of the 2nd Battalion Royal Scots at a Beating Retreat, Hong Kong, September 1941. This remarkable photograph shows most of those who were to be the key players in the Mainland battle. From left to right: Second Lieutenant Thomson (patrol commander at the Redoubt), Lieutenant Millar, Mrs Millar, Captain Ford (Signals Officer), Captain Pinkerton (Officer Commanding D Company), an officer of 5/7 Rajputs, Major Burn (Second in Command), Captain Duke, Lieutenant Colonel White (Commanding Officer), Lieutenant Colonel McDougall (previous Commanding Officer), Mrs White, Major Walker, Lieutenant Hunter, Miss Peggy Scotcher (Lieutenant Hunter’s fiancée who was a volunteer nurse. They were married on Christmas Day, one hour after the surrender, in the hospital where Lieutenant Hunter was lying wounded), Second Lieutenant Slater Brown and Captain Jones (Officer Commanding A Company and the Shingmun Redoubt).
2. Major General C M Maltby (left), the General Officer Commanding the Allies in Hong Kong, meets Brigadier John Lawson who commanded the ill-fated Canadian Brigade.
3. Canadian troops arrive in Hong Kong, 16th November 1941.
4. Canadian signallers in an observation post before the Japanese invasion.
5. A Royal Scots machine-gun section before the war.
6. Wong Nei Chong Gap from Jardine’s Lookout. The Royal Scots approached from the north along the road centre right of the picture. The police station they attacked is on the top of the small hill to the left. The key crossroads far left were on the vital ground where the heaviest fighting took place.
7. The Ridge, between Wong Nei Chong Gap and Repulse Bay.
8. A Japanese machine gun in action.
9. Colonel Tanaka above Repulse Bay. The famous hotel which held out for almost 72 hours lies in the centre foreground.
10. Stanley Peninsula (far left), the scene of the Allies’ last stand.
11. At 7.00 p.m. on Christmas Day 1941 Major General C M Maltby, seated at the table second left, signed the instrument of surrender. (He may well be looking at Sir Mark Young to the left out of the picture.)
12. Japanese troops enter Hong Kong headed by Lieutenant General Sakai and Vice Admiral Niimi on 28th December.
Four of the five posthumous winners of the George Cross who gathered important intelligence for British Army Aid Group in China. They refused to betray their comrades under torture.
13. Colonel L A Newnham, The Middlesex Regiment.
14. Captain Douglas Ford, The Royal Scots.
15. Captain M Ansari, 5/7 Rajputs.
16. Flight Lieutenant H B Gray, Royal Air Force.
17. Sir Mark Young, Governor of Hong Kong.
18. Briga
dier C Wallis, who refused to surrender.
19. A Japanese fighter (left centre) turns in to attack American bombers above the north shore of Hong Kong Island (looking towards Kowloon and China) 16th October 1944. Smoke billows from Kowloon docks and (to the left) two Japanese ships spout flames.
20. Allied POWs working as slave labour in a Japanese coal yard. Each car contains one and a half tons of coal.
21. Plays maintained morale. These two (male!) POWs put on a sketch.
22. The daily roll call parade at Argyle Street POW camp.
23. Argyle Street POW camp.
24. Beyond the barbed wire at Shamshuipo the POWs could see the patrolling Japanese sentries and the junks. A POW on the right is wearing a pandochi to save his shorts for muster parades.
The Battle for Hong Kong 1941-1945 Page 29